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<title>The Steady Decline of Carrie Wilson: from the perspective of her boyfriend by Stubbornness_and_Spite</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28119150">The Steady Decline of Carrie Wilson: from the perspective of her boyfriend</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stubbornness_and_Spite/pseuds/Stubbornness_and_Spite'>Stubbornness_and_Spite</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Roses and Dahlias and Falling In Love [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Carrie Wilson Redemption, F/M, Nick-centric, No beta we die like Sunset Curve, Pre-Canon, Sort Of, i might clean it up eventually but I wanted to post something today, no really this is seriously unedited</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:42:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,195</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28119150</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stubbornness_and_Spite/pseuds/Stubbornness_and_Spite</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick isn't sure when he stopped loving Carrie. He does know that he definitely loved her once and she loved him. He's not sure where they stand anymore.<br/></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Flynn &amp; Julie Molina, Julie Molina &amp; Carrie Wilson &amp; Flynn &amp; Nick (past), Julie Molina &amp; Carrie Wilson (past), Julie Molina &amp; Flynn &amp; Carrie Wilson (past), Julie Molina &amp; Nick, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Nick/Carrie Wilson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Roses and Dahlias and Falling In Love [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2070675</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Steady Decline of Carrie Wilson: from the perspective of her boyfriend</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Nick wasn’t sure when he stopped loving Carrie, but he was pretty sure it was around the time that she decided that her “daughter of a celebrity” act was a permanent fixture. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Carrie used to be… amazing. Nick hadn’t asked her out for her looks or her status, even though she had a lot of both, he’d asked her out because she was one of his best friends and he adored her. He still adored her. He’d let her slowly isolate him from his other best friends until she and the lacrosse team were the only people he talked to. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Though, that wasn’t really fair, because she’d isolated herself too. Nick had just followed. He had the lacrosse team and her. She had Dirty Candy and him. That was enough for them. It didn’t matter that Nick still hadn’t broken the habit of texting her memes that she didn’t get because he’d intended them for Flynn. It didn’t matter if Carrie kept asking him to sing with her in the wrong key because she forgot he didn’t have Julie’s voice. It didn’t matter that they both got quiet and tense when they saw Julie and Flynn in the halls, smiling and laughing and not missing them at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Carrie had always been there for Nick. She acted flighty, but she was one of the most steadfast people Nick had ever met. Until Rose got sick.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>None of them had dealt with Rose’s sickness well. Julie became quiet and stopped talking to them. Flynn made it her mission to be there for Julie first and foremost, which was sweet, except Rose was the closest thing Carrie had to a mom too. Carrie had come to Nick in tears a few weeks after Rose’s diagnosis, saying that she was a horrible friend for not supporting Julie and that she didn’t deserve to cry because Rose wasn’t her mom. Nick had grabber her by the shoulders and pulled her into his chest and held her while she cried.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have every right to cry, Carrie,” he’d whispered. “You know Rose would agree with me. Do you want to go visit her?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Carrie had said yes and Nick had kept his arm around her shoulders the whole way to the Molina house.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Julie had been the one to answer the door and Nick had already dried Carrie’s tears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing here?” Julie’d asked. Nick thought she sounded tired. Carrie thought she sounded mad. “Are you here to say sorry for being so cold to me when you know I’m having a hard time? Because if not, I think you need to leave.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Carrie had run. Nick had stayed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We just wanted to talk to Rose, Julie. See how she’s doing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julie huffed. “Not good, Nick. I’m sorry, this isn’t a good time. You can come back later, but don’t drag Carrie with you. Neither of us want to deal with the other right now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A month went by before Carrie admitted she wanted to try and visit again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A week went by before she got up the courage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rose passed away three days before Carrie planned to visit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was when Carrie really changed, Nick thought. When she decided to stop feeling and be the person that everyone expected her to be. She started being actively cruel to Julie and Flynn and cold to Nick. He stayed with her anyway. If that was how Carrie grieved, then he was going to make sure she still had someone when she came out the other side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nick asked Carrie out a month later. She looked like she was about to laugh and for the first time, Nick felt humiliated standing in front of his best friend, like he was less than her. Carrie saw a cheerleader wink at him and immediately dragged him forward by his shirt to kiss him. Nick almost pushed her away, but she was still Carrie and he was still Nick and he’d adored her since the day he met her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No matter how hard she made herself to love.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a while they were okay. Carrie kept up her act at school, but when it was just the two of them she would relax and it was almost like they were kids again, hanging out and having sleepovers. The one thing that Carrie would let him do in front of other people was wrap his arm around her. So Nick’s arm became an almost permenant fixture on Carrie’s shoulders. She never really stopped him from properly hugging her or kissing her in front of other people, but Nick had known Carrie since fifth grade. He knew what she looked like when she was uncomfortable. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They talked to Flynn and Julie even less, but sometimes Nick would catch Julie looking at him when she thought he couldn’t see. He always left quickly because missing her hurt, but he couldn’t go over to her without hurting Carrie and he didn’t want to be yet another person who hurt Carrie.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But no matter how hard Nick tried, Carrie just kept getting crueler to Julie, as if she resented her for being allowed to grieve.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The first time Nick and Carrie fought, really fought, was after he found out Carrie had convinced Principal Lessa to put Julie on a timeframe to sing again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you kidding me, Carrie?” Nick shouted</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why should Julie get to stay in the music program without doing any of the work when the rest of us have to actually try to do well in classes?” Carrie snapped back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nick started to pace. “Maybe because she’s grieving her mother?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, maybe she should get over it,” Carrie snarled. “The rest of us had to.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Screw you, Carrie!” Nick yelled. “You’re a heartless, unfeeling bitch who thinks no one else should ever get anything that isn’t handed to you on a silver platter first! I’m sorry you didn’t get to visit Rose! I’m sorry you lost her too! But you don’t get to wave around Daddy’s money to get people to stop caring about anyone who isn’t you!” Nick stormed towards the door, but turned back before he walked out. “I wish I’d stayed friends with Julie and Flynn instead of you.” He slammed the door on his way out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nick didn’t regret fighting with Carrie. If anything, he regretted that they both pretended it never happened. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He made up his mind to start talking to Julie again, at least a bit. If Carrie wanted to be mad at him for having friends, then that was on her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Or on him, apparently. Because he barely got a word out to Julie about her performance at the spirit rally before Carrie was at his arm insulting her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he and Carrie walked away, he did the one thing he’d quietly promised not to ever do: he brought up the fact that they used to be friends.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Julie’s no friend.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nick wasn’t sure when how Carrie acted around him became the act. He wasn’t sure when she actually became vapid and shallow. He was pretty sure it was right around the time he’d stopped loving her.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I got some Nick and Carrie feels<br/>I might continue this with some canon-divergence or post-season one Carrie redemption<br/>And probably some Flynn+Julie+Nick+Carrie fluff</p></blockquote><div class="children module" id="children">
  <b class="heading">Works inspired by this one:</b>
  <ul>
    <li>
        <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28445214">Podfic of The Steady Decline of Carrie Wilson: from the perspective of her boyfriend</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stubbornness_and_Spite/pseuds/Stubbornness_and_Spite">Stubbornness_and_Spite</a>
    </li>
  </ul>
</div></div></div>
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